Couple with origin amid loss wed

So went the lyrics of the song that marked the beginning of a wedding Saturday. The relationship got its start at a funeral.

The groom was Doug Childers, one of the first people to rush into Salon Meritage last year and tend to the shooting victims. The bride was Tammy Hetzel, a former Meritage stylist who lost friends in the violence.

They met at the funeral of Laura Webb Elody. And they've been together ever since.

Surrounding them on Saturday were some 30 family members and friends. Some of the guests were also connected to the Meritage slayings – another reminder that the killings in Seal Beach last Oct. 12 have bonded people.

Looking on during the ceremony, with their arms around each other, were Hattie and Tom Stretz of Los Alamitos. Hattie Stretz, the mother of Elody, was the only shooting victim to survive.

“We love them very much,” Hattie Stretz said of the couple. Her daughter was a friend of Hetzel's. Childers was one of the men who first tended to her when she was shot.

“We're delighted we can share this moment with them,” Tom Stretz said.

The best man was Rooney Daschbach of Sunset Beach. His sister was Seal Beach resident Michele Fast, who was a client that day at the salon when a man walked in and shot eight people to death. The Daschbachs befriended Childers after the shooting.

“They're like brothers from a different mother,” said Rooney's wife, Claire Daschbach.

Lisa Powers was at the wedding. She was a stylist who survived the shooting by hiding in a bathroom. Childers' friend, John Gallegos, was also at the wedding; he was hailed as a hero for running into the salon moments after the shootings. So was Michael Warzybok, the boyfriend of Michelle Fournier – another of the shooting victims. Fournier's ex-husband, Scott Dekraai, is charged with the killings.

The presence of so many relatives and friends touched the newlyweds and summoned the memories of those who died.

“It's like they were here with us,” Childers said shortly after the ceremony.

With seagulls splashing in a nearby puddle and colorful kites flying overhead, Bryan Hardwick, pastor of Sea Coast Grace Church, called it a love story. Beauty can come forth from the ashes, he told the crowd. And strength can come from fear, Hardwick said, gladness from mourning, and peace from despair.

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